Open Writing Assignments

Overview: A Hollywood production company that has carved out its name with original content is seeking a writer for a female-led, character-driven horror feature film based on a short film of the same genre.

For more information about the production company and the source material, please log in to Coverfly and apply.

Overview: A Hollywood production company and distributor that works on both feature films and television projects is looking for completed romantic comedies that revolving around Christmas or Christmas time.

For more information about the production company and the source material, please log in to Coverfly and apply.

About Open Writing Assignments

OWA stands for Open Writing Assignment, which is an invitational call
for scripts and projects to writers to interview for a specific film
or TV project. On Coverfly, a producer, manager, or studio executive
will submit a request for a certain type of film, TV project, writer,
or voice, which we will then make available to Coverfly users.

OWAs are an essential part of the Hollywood film development
system and one of the most common ways for professional writers
to get work. Coverfly is taking the model used by studios and opening
it up to Coverfly writers. An OWA is an opportunity for an industry
member to tell you exactly what they are looking for in a project
or a writer.

Submitting to OWAs is free. To keep submissions targeted and of high quality,
you must have a Coverfly Token to submit. Coverfly Tokens are merit based;
you can earn them if your project places in certain contests or if your
Industry Score increases above certain benchmarks. The goal is to have
all submissions to OWAs be at a professional writing level.

Only projects with a Coverfly Industry Score are eligible to enter. Your
project does not need to be public.

The OWA will be specific about genre, format, tone, style, length,
and even types of characters and settings. Ideally, your project will
match as many of the particular elements as possible. However, projects
with similar themes or styles to the request, even if they don’t match
the plot or subject exactly, will be considered as relevant writing samples.
Ultimately, it is up to the writer to submit to OWAs that are the best match.

You are certainly able to tweak an existing project to better fit the
assignment, but we do not recommend any massive overhauls or rewrites.
Scripts and writers that organically align with the OWA are more
likely to be chosen. There will be more OWA opportunities, so we
recommend waiting for the ones that match you best.

OWAs are not screenwriting competitions. There are no set ‘winners’
and scripts do not advance through rounds. They are an opportunity
to get your work in front of an industry member looking for specific
projects. While it is our hope to provide our industry partner with
scripts, projects, or writers that match exactly what they are looking
for, there is no guaranteed deal with an OWA.

Should the requesting industry partner find a project or writer that fits
what they are looking for, there are a number of possible outcomes.
You may choose to go into development with that producer, you may want
to option or sell your work to them, or you may decide to sign with
the particular manager. Ultimately, it is fully up to you to advance
with the executive as best fits your goals as a writer. Not every
success will mean a payday, but developing with a studio exec or
signing with a manager can be a big step forward for your writing
career if that’s what you choose to do.

All OWAs will have an notification date on their submission page. While
the amount of time between the close of submissions and the notification
date will vary by OWA, writers will usually be notified within 12 weeks
of the closing date.